Page 119 of The One That Got Away

The four of us had flown to Madrid for the weekend for some sightseeing and to watch Real Madrid play.

Ever since we’d got back from our travels, Max had watched a game every Saturday with Colton, which made me so happy. Max’s passion for football was back on track.

We’d had a fantastic time in the US, Australia and Europe. As Max had said from the start, most of his days were spent meeting potential suppliers, manufacturers and distributors, but I didn’t mind. I wanted to see his company do well. I wanted him to bring his mum’s dream to life, so I supported him 100 per cent.

Plus, I was busy working on my own career. As well as finishing off my business plan and setting up my own website, Iwas flat out creating the branding for Max’s new body care range, so it all worked out well.

In the evenings we’d met for dinner and at the weekends or whenever Max had time off, we’d gone sightseeing.

We’d visited the famous Sydney Opera House and went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef. An experience I’ll never forget for as long as I live.

In the US we spent a day in New York and visited the Empire State Building and other epic attractions.

Although we didn’t spend a lot of time visiting places in Europe because the schedule was tight, neither of us minded. It just meant we had an excuse to come back in our own time and visit each country properly.

Hence why I’d suggested we have a weekend away in Madrid. I remembered how much Max had enjoyed seeing Real Madrid play in Cádiz during our stay at The Love Hotel and thought it’d be nice for him to see them at Santiago Bernabéu – their home stadium.

Inviting Colton and Natalie to join us made perfect sense. Just like I was grateful to Mum for applying for me to go to The Love Hotel, I was glad Colton and Natalie had arranged for Max to go too. Without them, we wouldn’t be together and so blissfully happy.

Colton had always been a rock for Max and Natalie was adorable. We both got on like a house on fire and I loved visiting them on Sunday mornings for breakfast and playing with Betty.

Speaking of houses, I wasn’t living with Mum any more. Within two weeks of our travels, Max asked if I wanted to move in together when we got back. And of course, I said yes. I loved being with him and knew we’d get on well.

Now, instead of saving for a mortgage of my own, we’d talkedabout whether I wanted Max to put my name on his mortgage or buy somewhere new, together.

To anyone who didn’t know us, it’d seem like things were moving fast. But when you’d already wasted years being apart from the person you loved, you didn’t want to waste another second. Everything felt so right. Like we were both where we wanted to be.

My career was starting to take off (I also had two exciting new business meetings booked in for the next two weeks) and Max had learnt to have more of a work/life balance too. He delegated more, rarely worked late and he’d even started seeing a therapist to help him work through the trauma from his past. It was early days, but so far, he said it was helping.

The sharp ring of my mobile snapped me out of my thoughts.

‘It’s Jasmine.’ I showed Max the screen.

‘She’s called a few times so you’d better get it.’

‘Hey!’ I answered. ‘How are you?’ Since leaving The Love Hotel, Jasmine and I had kept in regular contact. At first she just called to check how Max and I were, but now we spoke at least once a week. Max and I had even agreed that the next time we went to Spain we’d go and see her.

‘Not good…’ Her voice shook.

‘Why?’ I frowned. ‘What’s up?’

‘It’s Alejandro. Something’s happened between us. We…’

Jasmine had tried to deny her attraction to the chef for ages, but I always knew she liked him. There was a loud commotion in the background.

‘Hello? Jasmine? Are you still there?’

The phone line cut out.

‘What’s up?’ Max said.

‘Not sure,’ I said, trying to redial Jasmine’s number. Thephone rang out. ‘Sounds like something happened with Jasmine and Alejandro but the line went dead before she could tell me.’

‘Is that your Love Alchemist lady?’ Natalie said.

‘Yeah.’

‘I hope she finds love,’ Natalie added. ‘She deserves it after she brought you two together.’

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